Taken
by The Best Guesst
Summary: Keith and Lance, magnets for disaster. What happens when we put them together, and one of them is injured? There will be plenty of whump and hurt/comfort. I love them, so I must break them. First Voltron fic, so be kind.
1. One Down

**A/N: I don't usually start posting stories before I finish them, but hey, I thought why not get this out there so that I actually have motivation to finish? Hopefully it works... Anywho, this is my first Voltron fic, hope you like it.**

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It started out as a normal infiltration mission to a Galra base. It was _supposed_ to be a normal mission, but of course, when things can go wrong, they go wrong in the most spectacularly awful way possible.

The trouble started when the team split up. It was the usual split, where Lance and Keith went off together and Hunk and Pidge stayed close to Shiro, so none of them thought anything of it. Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro swiftly and stealthily swept through the base, encountering no obstacles between them and their objective- the main console. Lance and Keith, however, had no such luck.

The two paladins were in the middle of a heated whisper debate when a sentry droid stumbled across them. Keith was too startled to react, having been thoroughly distracted by the debate, but Lance quickly whipped out his bayard and fired off a shot straight into the middle of the stopped it from setting off an alarm, but it made enough noise that it brought other sentries to their position.

"Shiro, we've got company!" Keith shouted into his comm as he readied his bayard and settled into an offensive stance. Shiro let out a short curse and started rushing towards the console with Pidge and Hunk at his heels.

"We'll use the console to keep any distress signals from getting out. Once we've fried the communications, we'll come extract you. Just hold out until we get there, and try to get closer to the main hanger," Shiro ordered.

"Don't worry," Lance said as he shot yet another droid. "We got this, don't we, Mullet?"

Keith let out a short grunt that Lance took to be affirmative, though it might have just been him slicing sentries in half.

The red and blue paladins quickly fell into the routine that had been drilled into them by many hours of training. Keith protected Lance from getting shot or sliced while Lance picked off as many sentries as he could with headshots and torso shots while protecting Keith's back. It worked well for a while, but as the battle dragged on, the paladins could start to feel fatigue setting in. There seemed to be no end to the droids, and the bodies kept piling up. Keith had less and less room to move, and Lance's arms were starting to ache.

Just then, one of the droids on the ground flickered back to life and managed to squeeze off one last shot before it was stabbed by Keith's blade. Unfortunately, its aim was true and the laser hit Lance directly on the part of his thigh unprotected by the thick paladin armor. Lance screamed and his leg collapsed under him.

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 **A/N: Was this enough to whet your appetite? Give me encouragement! Even if you just say Hi in the review, I'll take it. Please nourish my creative spirit!**


	2. Another One Down

**A/N: OH MY GOSH THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT!  
Thank you to RedArrowisSuperCool, Guest (1), EclipseWolf18, KaylaTheRandomNerd, bookzarewonder, Guest (2), and Nightwinglover05 for your reviews! They really do help me have motivation!  
Thank you to je-ne-parle-pas-francais, bookzarewonder, Windrider340, SerinaAZ, Ralyssene118, Nightwinglover05 and 1Sherlockian for following this story!  
Thank you to je-ne-parle-pas-francais and dragoscilvio for favorite-ing!**

* * *

 _Just then, one of the droids on the ground flickered back to life and managed to squeeze off one last shot before it was stabbed by Keith's blade. Unfortunately, its aim was true and the laser hit Lance directly on the part of his thigh unprotected by the thick paladin armor. Lance screamed and his leg collapsed under him._

* * *

"Lance!" Keith shouted out, unable to turn around and see how badly Lance was hurt. He dispatched his current opponent and retreated back to Lance's side. He was panicking on the inside, but he refused to let his panic get them both killed as he settled into a more defensive stance over the prone paladin. Luckily, in the fighting, the two of them had managed to get close to a wall, so Keith didn't have to worry about enemies behind him. Then, all other thought fled his mind as he took on the task of defending both himself and his downed teammate.

Shiro heard the scream and Keith's shout and froze in fear of what might have happened. Pidge and Hunk both looked up from their work as well, faces pale. Shiro mentally shook himself and told the two to finish up quickly. They started working again with a new fervor, desperate to finish and go help their friend. Shiro didn't dare ask Keith for a sitrep for fear of distracting him, but he could hear his shouts and grunts of exertion. He startled as Pidge gave a triumphant shout but quickly ushered the two tech-geniuses out of the main console room, eager to give backup to the other two members of his team.

As Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk raced through the corridors, Keith was starting to tire. Even he had limits. Suddenly, he felt something impact his shoulder from the side, then the world whited out for a second as electricity arced through him. Keith quickly recovered and flung the device from his shoulder, but that brief second allowed the sentries to close in once more. Keith resumed hacking and slashing, but he noticed the small tremors left over from the electricity weakening him. This fight would have to be finished soon, or else.

"Shiro," Keith breathed out as he continued fighting. "Gonna… need… help… soon!"

Shiro nodded even though Keith couldn't see him and replied, "We are on our way, just hold out for a little bit longer. How's Lance?"

Keith couldn't spare a glance down at Lance, but he told Shiro, "Dunno. Hasn't moved or- Agh!" Keith was cut off by another electrical shot. He flung the device off him as quickly as he could, but he had fallen to his knees. He could hear Shiro shouting his name on the comlink, but he couldn't get enough breath to respond as he staggered upright, determined to keep Lance safe, no matter what.

Keith's sword arm trembled as he struggled to keep the droids at bay. "Shiro," he whispered. "I'm not… I don't think I… not much longer."

"Keith, no!" Shiro shouted, pushing himself to run faster, leaving Pidge and Hunk behind. He was so close, he could see the crowd of sentries. He was also close enough to see a flash of electricity and hear Keith's scream from the comlink and from in front of him.

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 **A/N: Keep the reviews, follows, and faves coming, and I'll be more likely to procrastinate by writing more lol. Honestly, it feels really good to know that people are reading and enjoying my writing.**

 **RedArrowisSuperCool: I'm not sure that I understand what you mean in your review...  
** **Both Guests: Thank you for reading! I am writing more don't worry lol  
** **EclipseWolf18: Thank you for nourishing my spirit so much! I'm glad you are liking the story!  
** **KaylaTheRandomNerd: Idk, I've found so many too. All fave characters get hurt a bunch. Like I'm doing...  
** **bookzarewonder: Don't worry, I don't plan on stopping anytime soon.  
Nightwinglover05: I love to write more!**


	3. Taken

**A/N: Thank you to Nightwinglover05, Windrider340, Scout017, RedArrowisSuperCool, SerinaAZ, EclipseWolf18, and Cady-Marionette for your reviews!  
Thank you to FanHubClub, Gwendolyn117, JeromeHaddock15, Nightingale777, Saralei Nighthaven, Scout017, Soullessginger00, and dreamwalker91 for following!  
Thank you to Windrider340, Scout017, Nightwinglover05, and Nightingale777 for favorite-ing!**

* * *

 _"Keith, no!" Shiro shouted, pushing himself to run faster, leaving Pidge and Hunk behind. He was so close, he could see the crowd of sentries. He was also close enough to see the flash of electricity and hear Keith's scream from the comlink and from in front of him._

* * *

Keith was hit once more with the electrical device, but this time he wasn't strong enough to move to get it off. He screamed and collapsed next to Lance, clinging onto consciousness, hoping that he could be strong enough to protect his teammate, but he couldn't move a muscle. The electricity arcing through him was too much, and he felt his consciousness slipping away. The last thing he heard before darkness took him was Shiro shouting his name.

When Shiro heard Keith scream, he practically threw himself into the crowd of droids, shouting Keith's name. But there was only so much that one man could do against a veritable army. Even after Hunk and Pidge joined the fight, Shiro knew that they wouldn't get there in time to save their teammates.

Just then, the mass of sentries started to thin. The thinning allowed Shiro to see several droids carrying his red and blue teammates. He froze in horror for a second, but then started fighting with a new ferocity. In the end, though, it wasn't enough. He was forced to watch helplessly as the droids carried Lance and Keith into an escape pod and took off.

"No!" Shiro shouted, dispatching several droids in seconds, trying in vain to reach them before they got out of sight. But it was too late. Keith and Lance were gone.

After Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro finally dispatched the last of the droids, they had to return to the castle and tell Allura what had happened. They hoped that she would be able to track the missing paladins.

After they got back to the castle and explained what had happened to Allura, the princess was silent for a minute.

"I don't think that I could track them," she finally spoke. "I could track the lions because they are bound to my life force. I have no such bond with the paladins. I'm sorry, but I do not know how we could get them back."

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 **A/N: Sorry it's short. I wanted to get at least something out for y'all. I wish I could write quicker for you guys, but college is a thing :( But- I'll do my best to get out fairly regular updates!**

 **Nightwinglover05: Don't worry, Keith is my fave so he'll take the brunt of the hurt, especially in defense of Lance :P**  
 **Windrider340: I'm updating as fast as I can! Just keep in mind that I'm in college and I won't be able to spend a lot of time writing. I'm glad you're so eager though lol!  
** **Scout017: OMG thank you for your praise! Don't worry, there will be more!  
** **RedArrowisSuperCool: Lol don't worry, more is coming  
** **SerinaAZ: Just warning you, there will be more whump :P  
** **EclipseWolf18: You're welcome! I'm glad you're liking it!  
** **Cady-Marionette: Don't worry, I'm not planning on stopping any time soon**


	4. Captured

**A/N: Thank you for your patience, as I juggle classes and clubs and homework and writing this. EDIT 4-19:** Just did a tiny bit of editing that has no impact on the plot but makes the story a little bit better **  
Thank you to Windrider340, Madame-rants-alot, EclipseWolf18, JeromeHaddock18, Saralei Nighthaven, and Insanity Moons for your reviews!  
Thank you to Insanity Moons for following!  
** **Thank you to Mythical Luna for favorite-ing!**

* * *

 _"I don't think that I could track them," Allura finally spoke. "I could track the lions because they are bound to my life force. I have no such bond with the paladins. I'm sorry, but I do not know how we could get them back."_

* * *

Surprisingly, Pidge was the first to recover from the shock. "No! There must be a way. Maybe something in their suits, or maybe we could track their comms… We can figure something out!"

Hunk nodded slowly. "Maybe the comms, as long as they keep the helmets on the same ship… this could work!"

"Good, then you and Pidge get to work on figuring it out," Shiro ordered. "We need to get them back fast. Who knows what Haggar will do to them once she gets her filthy claws on them." Shiro shivered at the thought, a few shards of memory coming together in his mind of his time in the witch's grasp. "We have no time to lose."

* * *

Lance woke up slowly. His whole body ached, but he focused on the throbbing pain on his leg that pulsed with every heartbeat. He tried to move but stopped immediately with a low groan of pain. As he became more aware of his surroundings, memories of the fight came back, and he realized that the purple lighting in the room meant only one thing- he was still on a Galra ship. As that came to him, he realized that even though he was still wearing his paladin armor, his hands were cuffed in front of him and his helmet was nowhere to be found.

Back to full consciousness, he quickly tried to sit up again, and managed this time with the help of a wall. Once he was upright, he noticed another figure sprawled on the other side of the room.

"Keith!" Lance whisper-shouted, not wanting to get the attention of any guards. "Keith, please! Wake up!" Lance feared for the non-responsive red paladin. He knew he had to go over there to make sure that Keith was still alive. Bracing himself against the pain from his thigh, Lance used his bound hands to drag himself carefully across the floor to his downed teammate. Each pull caused his muscles to tense, which sent pain shooting from his wound down his leg, but he grit his teeth and ignored it as much as he could.

When he reached Keith, Lance propped himself up on the wall again and waited for his breathing and heart rate to slow a bit. Once he was sufficiently recovered from his trek across the floor, Lance took his paladin armor's glove off with his teeth and scooched next to Keith. He placed two fingers on Keith's neck and held his breath as he waited to feel a pulse. After a few seconds, when he could feel nothing, Lance started to panic, but then he moved his fingers slightly and could feel Keith's pulse. Lance sagged in relief, then turned his focus to waking Keith up.

"Keith," Lance whispered as he gently shook the red paladin. "Keith, wake up." No response. "Keith!" Lance said as loudly as he dared, sharply shaking Keith's shoulder. This finally earned a groan from Keith.

Keith had been floating in semi-consciousness for a while, vaguely aware of his surroundings, but most of his focus was on ignoring the pain in what felt like every single cell in his body. He didn't process Lance calling his name until it came with a sharp shake that set fire to his nerves, and he couldn't fully suppress a groan. The pain brought him more fully into consciousness and he opened his eyes to see Lance hovering over him.

"L-L'nce?" Keith slurred, still half asleep. "Wha hap'nd?"

"Shhh, it's okay. We are in a Galra ship, so I guess we've been kidnapped. Not sure why, but we'll be fine. The others will come for us, I'm sure of it," Lance rambled, somewhat nervously.

Keith's awareness came back full force and he sat up quickly, startling Lance. Too quickly, it turned out, as he became dizzy and his vision went black for a few seconds. He held still, and the darkness receded, but the dizziness stayed. Then he realized that Lance was talking at him, so he tuned back in to hear Lance say, "... you okay?" Keith gave a short shake of his head. "Yeah, yeah, 'm fine. Just sat up too quick."

Lance looked a little skeptical, but he let it slide. "Did you get hurt during the battle?" he asked Keith.

"Nah, just got knocked unconscious," Keith fibbed. "I know you got hurt though. Let me see that leg." Keith reached for Lance's leg with his bound hands. Lance let him examine the laser burn, only letting out a small grunt when Keith prodded it.

"Well," Keith said as he leaned back again, "I don't think it's infected yet. The heat both cauterized and sterilized it, so you're pretty lucky."

Lance frowned. "How would you know if it's infected or not?"

Keith raised an eyebrow at Lance. "I've had to take care of myself for a long time. I had to learn how to tell if a wound was infected. Yours isn't radiating an unnatural amount of heat, given that it is a burn. While I would like to cool it down with some water, it should be fine. I've had to deal with worse with less." Lance seemed mollified. " Anyways, we need to figure out an escape plan."

Lance's face turned serious. "Right. Escape plan. Let's do it."

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 **A/N: Wow, I did a lot of writing today. Thank goodness for Saturdays. Keep the reviews, follows and faves coming, they nourish my motivation to write :P  
And now the story will be focusing mostly on the Misadventures of Lance and Keith because they are my preciouses.**

 **Windrider340: Thank you for your understanding! And I'm super glad that you are enjoying the story!  
Madame-rants-alot: I'm happy that you are loving my work!  
EclipseWolf18: Will do!  
JeromeHaddock15: I'm glad you like whump because I'll be writing plenty of it!  
Saralei Nighthaven: Definitely Klangst, though I'm not sure if it'll turn romantic yet, mostly because I suck at writing romance lol  
Insanity Moons: Wow, you think it's great? Thank you!**


	5. Escape Plan

**A/N: The people have spoken! I've decided not to make it romantic because 1) I don't like writing romance and 2) At least a few of my readers don't want romance. Therefore, in this fic, Keith and Lance just have a BroKlance. Anywho, sorry for the late update and all that. All my professors seem to think that the last month of school is the best time to give tons of projects. Unfortunately, I have to devote pretty much all my time to that stuff, so this will probably be the last update until school ends. After that I'll have more time and mental energy.  
Thanks to ****Nightwinglover05,** **Scout017,** **dragoscilvio,** **Windrider340,** **Saralei Nighthaven,** **Azun26, and** **LeNolaNamiko** **for commenting!  
** **Thanks to Azun26 and LeNolaNamiko for following!  
** **Thanks to Azun26 and Saxor131 for favorite-ing!**

* * *

 _Lance's face turned serious. "Right. Escape plan. Let's do it."_

* * *

"First, we need to figure out how to get out of these cuffs." Keith lifted his bound hands. "You need to be able to shoot, and I need to be able to support you and fight. You can't exactly walk out of here with that leg."

Lance frowned at the mention of his injury, but quickly brightened as a thought came to him. "Keith, do you still have your knife? I might be able to pick the lock, get our hands free!"

Keith looked confused, but nodded. "The Galra are apparently pretty bad at disarming prisoners. How do you know how to pick locks?"

"Misspent childhood." Lance took the dagger from Keith and started fiddling with the lock on his handcuffs. "... Plus I thought it would make me look cool in front of the ladies."

Keith chuckled and leaned back against the wall as he waited for Lance to unlock the cuffs. He he closed his eyes and took stock of his pain to see if he would be able to push it down enough to fight. He thought so, but it was far from certain. Keith was brought out of his musings by Lance's triumphant exclamation. He opened his eyes to see Lance twirling his handcuffs on one finger.

"Got it! Knew I still had it," Lance smirked. "Now, let's get you out of yours, and figure out how to get out of this cell."

Keith nodded and held out his hands to Lance. "I could probably break the lock with my knife, unless you know how to open an electronic lock?" Lance shook his head. Keith continued, "Alright, so I'll break the lock, and then we'll make a break for it. We still have our bayards, right?"

Lance summoned his bayard from his armor as Keith did the same. "All right, now we just gotta stand," Lance said as he started to rise, but paused. "I think I'll have to lean on you. My leg isn't exactly in tip-top shape right now."

Keith nodded his agreement and pulled himself up, ignoring the fire that flashed across his nerves, only letting his breath hitch for a split second. Then he helped Lance up, making sure that the tender skin on the shoulder that was hit with the electricity wasn't touched. Together, leaning on each other, they were slightly wobbly, but able to stand without too much trouble. They activated their bayards and got ready to fight.

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 **A/N: Just FYI, I literally have nothing planned, everything is me flying by the seat of my pants, coming to me as I'm writing. I barely even edit my work. I give it to you as soon as I get enough done to post. Also, this means that I might miss some small details so if you catch anything off, please tell me and I'll go back and fix it.**

 **I'm sorry for the cliffhanger again, but I wanted to give you guys an update before I go dark again for another few weeks. This story deserves my full attention, and I can't give it that as I'm writing a few sentences per day in between the mountains of homework I'm slogging through. I'll see you on the other side!**

 **Nightwinglover05: I completely agree. Thank you for adding your opinion as it helped me make that decision.**  
 **Scout017: Thank you for that praise! I try my best ;)**  
 **dragoscilvio: Don't worry, I've decided that they'll just be bros with a good bromance.**  
 **Windrider340: I can't wait to write more whump but for that I need enough time to make it realistic enough for my standards of whump. The escape attempt will definitely lead to whump and it shall be glorious. Thanks for being patient.  
Saralei Nighthaven: Oh yes, the escape will be quite the show. Sorry to keep you waiting even longer for it.  
Azun26: ...shhhhh there's shielding or something on the galra ship blocking Red from being the overprotective mama lion that we all know and love. I'm not gonna focus much on the other paladins anyways, so they'll figure out a way when it's convenient to the plot, because that is the beauty of this being fanfiction ;)  
LeNolaNamiko: Thank you for your support! Even though Keith is my absolute favorite, I'm trying to do justice to Lance as well, because I hate it when writers give all the angst or the badassery to only their favorite, which honestly seems to be Lance more often than not... Anywho, glad you are enjoying so far!**


	6. Escape!

**A/N: Ayyy, I'm alive! Finals are done, I'm moved out of college for the summer, goddamn does it feel good to be done with school for now. Grades are out, and I'm pleased with the results! Anywho, here's more of the story!  
Thank you to Insanity Moons, JeromeHaddock15, and Saralei Nighthaven for commenting.  
** **Thank you to DanniMeamea,** **ViolaKyrie, Stenners, AmyKR, The Striking Storms, and Endorite for following.  
** **Thank you to DanniMeamea, Stenners, and The Striking Storms for favorite-ing.**

* * *

 _Together, leaning on each other, they were slightly wobbly, but able to stand without too much trouble. They activated their bayards and got ready to fight._

* * *

Keith swung his sword at the lock and cleaved it in half, sparks flying everywhere. The door slid open, revealing a purple-lit hallway. A quick check revealed that the guards were nowhere in sight. The two paladins awkwardly shuffled out into the hall, leaning heavily on one another.

"Which way?" Lance wondered aloud. "What wouldn't I give to have Pidge in my ear, telling me where to go…"

"No Pidge here," Keith grunted, shifting slightly to try to lessen his pain. He huffed out a breath. "We need to find our own way out. Let's start by heading right."

Lance raised an eyebrow at that. "Why right? What if everything is actually to the left? What if we just end up hopelessly lost because you decided to go right?"

If Keith had the energy or a free, uninjured arm, he would have face-palmed at Lance's mini-rant. Instead, he just settled for rolling his eyes and saying, "We don't have time for what-ifs. We have to choose one way or the other. Right just feels… right."

Lance didn't look quite convinced, but he acquiesced Keith's decision. The two of them shuffle-walked as quickly as they could down the hallway to the right of their former cell. Whenever they heard a guard, they quickly ducked into one of the alcoves lining the walls. The sudden movements aggravated both paladin's injuries, but they managed not to get caught. They made there way through the ship for what seemed like hours (but was only about 20 minutes) when they found the escape pods.

"Whoa, lucky us!" Lance exclaimed quietly as they took a small break, leaning against the wall. Keith nodded, but after walking and supporting Lance for that long, even though Lance had supported him some too, Keith didn't have the energy to form words. They pushed off from the wall and shuffled-walked to the escape pods. Keith slapped his free hand onto the panel next to the closest escape pod. The doors opened, and triggered a loud alarm throughout the ship.

Lance and Keith looked at each other, panicked, before scrambling into the pod as quickly as they could and pressing random buttons to try to get the pod to launch. Luckily, one of the buttons closed the door, but none of them seemed to launch the pod. By that time, they could see the guards and sentries starting to crowd around the pod entrance.

"Why aren't they trying to get in?" Lance asked, confused. Unfortunately, the answer came swiftly, in the form of Haggar striding through the mass of guards.

"Shit," Keith hissed out.

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 **A/N: AHAHAHAHA So, now that I'm done with school, I would think that I'd have more time to write, but nah. Ma is keeping me busy, also putting away all the things I took back from college is a huge chore. But I'll be working on this as much as possible to get more of this story out. It's going a little slowly, but I'm getting there! Thank you for your patience and support, reviews always help me get motivated to write more ;)**

 **Insanity Moons: Geez, why would they make you write in _gym class?_ I hope you're still alive after all that work. I'm happy that you still like reading my story ;)  
JeromeHaddock15: I tried to plan a story once, and it never made it past outline form bc I had too many ideas at once. I tend to be more of a pantser writer *shrug*. I'm glad you are enjoying the story! Thank you for the compliments!  
Saralei Nighthaven: Don't worry, I don't kill characters, just make them wish they were dead lol. Glad that you are cool with BroKlance, I don't think that anyone would enjoy me trying to write romance lol**


	7. Consequences

**A/N: God, plot and dialogue are so hard to write. I just wanna get back to my whump :( but I know that _I_ like fics better when they actually make sense, so I'm trying to make it flow at the very least. Also, I'm a bit underwhelmed by the response to my last chapter but *shrug* what can I do about that.**

 **Thank you to Insanity Moons for commenting!  
Thank you to Shiranai Atsune, Truth Behind The Eyes, Rose61393, r-a-e121, and Rachel606 for following!  
** **Thank you to Rose61393 for favorite-ing!**

* * *

 _"Why aren't they trying to get in?" Lance asked, confused. Unfortunately, the answer came swiftly, in the form of Haggar striding through the mass of guards._

 _"Shit," Keith hissed out._

* * *

"Well, if it isn't our two honored guests," Haggar said with a sneer. "What are you doing out of your cell? Were you looking for a bit more… hospitality?"

The way that she said that made both paladins shiver. The thought of what Haggar could mean by hospitality was terrifying.

Haggar gestured with her hand, and several sentries stepped forward and pointed their blasters at the pod. Another sentry stepped forward, pausing at the panel to open the pod.

"I'd much rather have you both alive, but I'm sure only having one paladin would be acceptable to my lord Zarkon," Haggar smirked. "So if you want to live, you will not fight back as we take you to a more secured place."

Keith and Lance looked at each other and nodded minutely. They deactivated their bayards and let them fade back into their armor. Haggar gestured once more, the pod doors were opened and guns were leveled at the two paladins. Lance and Keith slowly climbed out of the pod and allowed themselves to be secured. They were lead roughly back to the cell area, the guards shoving them every time they of being shoved back into a cell, however, their captors kept going, pushing them along.

When they reached the end of the corridor, the paladins were shoved into a chamber empty of anything except for a metal chair in the middle of the room. The chair reminded Lance of the kind that dentists use, but this one had straps to keep the occupant in place.

"Now now paladins. You didn't think there wouldn't be consequences, did you? We can't have you trying to escape again, so hopefully this will teach you a lesson," Haggar scoffed. Three guards dragged Keith towards the chair as another two kept Lance off to the side. Keith kept twisting, trying to break free from his captors, but all he accomplished was making his arms sore.

"No!" he cried out as the guards strapped down his arms and legs to the chair. He tugged unsuccessfully at those restraints as the guards put one final restraint around his head. Haggar waved off the guards as she walked in front of the red paladin. Keith tried to turn his head away, but could barely move it a centimeter either way. Haggar cackled as she saw the paladin's struggles. She motioned to the guards holding Lance and they slammed him against the wall, knocking the breath out of him. As he struggled to regain his breath, Lance was helpless against the guards as they chained him to the wall at the edge of Keith's peripheral vision.

"Now, where to begin?" Haggar cackled.

* * *

 **A/N: So I've got a job now. It exhausts me both physically and mentally, making it difficult to get motivation to write.** **Anywho, please review! Let me know that you are still reading this story and I'm not just writing it in vain.**

 **Insanity Moons: *Hamilton voice* Stay alive, stay aliiiiiiive. Seriously, I can't believe how much stuff the teachers are piling on you. Sucks, dude. Glad that my fic can help tho :) Hope everything went well with the last tow weeks of school**


	8. And So It Begins

**A/N: Hey! I'm not dead! Neither is this story! I'm not abandoning it just yet. Or hopefully ever.** **Let me just say, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE FEEDBACK IT MAKES ME FEEL ALL WARM AND FUZZY I LOVE YOU ALL! You are what gave me motivation to keep writing this story despite all that's been going on lately (if you care about me or the explanation, see bottom A/N). I will not abandon this story, don't worry. It might take me a long time to update, but I will eventually update.**

 **So, I feel the need to warn about this next chapter because we are definitely getting into the hurt and the whump and stuff. So** _Warning! Violence and also Angsty reference to Keith's tragic past bc I'm abused-orphan!Keith trash but IDK if it'll be bad for anyone to read so here is a warning_ _in not bold so it'll stand out._ **I hope I don't overdo it and scare anyone off, or underdo it and rip you guys off, this is my first time writing this kind of hurt.**

 **Thank you to _Pluviophile15, Guest(1), dragoscilvio, Windrider340, Guest(2), KaylaTheRandomNerd, mikeyandpizza, ToMuchImagination, kelli.n.c, Guest(3), shan, trulu, george,_ and _Mystery Name_ for commenting!  
Thank you to _jaymzNshed, Blackwolfhunting, heartbreakerninja, KaylaTheRandomNerd, ToMuchImagination, DayDreamerOfThePast, riverdaleliars, RiotInHaven, Roxy190, Ymiko333, Adara Ivory, Fantastic Nonsense, Sora Kim, SimmyNimmy, ElenaTheHyperactiveFangirl, aneccentricintrovert, JLfanficlover, stephnwf, Dreamer of Foolery, RJLadyA, FangirlShipper-45, Ansjdopqbs, Pink-Libra-Girl, ElliePlays2004, DoraFora,_ and _RDx1998_ for following!  
Thank you to _Blackwolfhunting, DayDreamerOfThePast, DoraFora, Dreamer of Foolery, ElenaTheHyperactiveFangirl14, ElliePlays2004, ilikevoltronandyj, sdkop21, heartbreakerninja, KaylaTheRandomNerd, ToMuchImagination, Yurrie, riverdaleliars, Roxy190, JulieRoonie, SimmyNimmy, kelli.n.c, elyannarosli, iloveyou-iknow, FangirlShipper-45, mystery writer5775, Pink-Libra-Girl,_ and _Rdx1998_ for favorite-ing!**

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 _As he struggled to regain his breath, Lance was helpless against the guards as they chained him to the wall at the edge of Keith's peripheral vision._

 _"Now, where to begin?" Haggar cackled._

* * *

Haggar slowly circled Keith like a predator circling its prey. "Should I start with the questions, or should I first make you understand what it means to be in pain?"

Keith could hear the sadism in her voice. He recognized it from too many different voices in his past. He knew what would come next, even if the tools used were different this time. He doubted Haggar would use a belt, if she even knew what one was. Keith took a slow breath to center himself and get ready to retreat into his mind. He regretted that Lance would have to watch. He had to hope that Lance was strong enough to hold out, no matter what happened to Keith.

Lance, however, still didn't fully understand the situation. He still thought that he could deter Haggar from her desire to hurt Keith by bringing her attention to himself. "Hey, witch! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

Haggar only laughed at Lance's outburst. "I see you are protective of your friend here. How adorable. This will be even more fun as you watch me break him." With that, she turned her attention back to Keith and a table of tools that had been wheeled in.

Lance could only look on with horror as Haggar selected her first method of torture, a wickedly sharp knife. The witch twirled the knife around in her fingers, moving in front of Keith to make sure that he could see exactly what was coming.

Keith watched her with a blank expression as the knife came closer to him. He needed to reassure Lance, make sure that he knew that Keith could take whatever the witch threw at him. "Lance, I'll be okay. Don't answer any questions. I'll be fi-"

Haggar cut him off by pressing the knife against his unprotected throat. She smirked and said, "Your efforts of reassurance will be in vain. I'll make you scream soon enough, and then you will be begging for a chance to answer my questions. First, though, we need to get this pesky armor off of you." She trailed the knife down to the edge of his under-armor, then dug the knife underneath the durable fabric. Keith bit off a yelp as the witch nicked his skin while she cut through the under-armor until the breastplate stopped the knife, freeing his neck and part of his collarbone. He could feel a small trail of blood follow the path of her knife. Lance was yanking at his own restraints, hating that he could do nothing.

Haggar clicked her tongue at the armor's resistance. "What a nuisance," she clucked as she drew the knife back. Keith only got a moment's respite before the witch stabbed the blade down with no warning. Augmented by her magic, the knife tore through the armor like paper, leaving shallow cuts in Keith's skin as well. He was able to keep his noises of pain down, but only just. He could hear Lance shouting, but it seemed so far away and out of focus as he concentrated on pushing the pain down. He couldn't cry out, couldn't give her the satisfaction.

Haggar let out a noise of frustration, saying, "You're a real stubborn one. But let's see how stubborn you remain after this!"

With those words, Haggar stabbed the knife into Keith's hand. Keith felt like screaming, but he kept it behind his teeth just barely. He couldn't help the breath that hissed between his clenched teeth, though. Haggar looked delighted at this small reaction.

"It will be a pleasure breaking you, boy."

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 **A/N:** **Welp, there we go.  
** **So, over the summer I had a job that was super exhausting, both physically and mentally. I was on my feet, outside, always paying attention for 8 hours straight with literally no breaks. That really sapped all my motivation to do anything but rest in my off hours. Then, school started and I thought it would be like any other semester, but nope! I went spiraling down into mild depression and couldn't take care of myself or get my work done, let alone write this. Then, right after Thanksgiving I decided I'd had enough and went to my school's psychological services and started seeing a therapist. Things definitely started improving and I was able to salvage at least some of my grades. However, since I was in the Honor's program, I was supposed to write my thesis proposal last semester, and that didn't happen, so I was given till the end of winter break. Unfortunately that also didn't happen and I got kicked out of the Honor's program. Part of me is sad, and disappointed, and angry at myself for failing like this, but honestly I mostly feel relief that I don't have to worry about it hanging over my head anymore. Anywho, now I might have time to write this a bit more, depending on my classes this semester.**

 **Pluviophile15: I hope you are still interested :)  
Guest(1): Thank you!  
dragoscilvio: AHAHAHAHA! I hope this was worth the wait ;)  
Windrider340: Thanks for waiting and understanding!  
Guest(2): Thank you for the encouragement!  
KaylaTheRandomNerd: 1) I'll try not to stress about writing, but I want to share the story with you guys. 2) oof looks like your gonna fight Haggar then lol  
mikeyandpizza: Don't worry, I'll keep going till the end. It might take me a while, but I'll get there some day.  
ToMuchImagination: Thanks! Here's more!  
kelli.n.c: Don't worry, I'm trying my best!  
Guest(3): Sorry for the wait, but here's the update.  
shan: Thank you for reviewing! I won't give up on this story, no matter how long it takes me!  
trulu: Thanks! Unfortunately I don't have a timeframe for this story because I don't actually have a plan for it. I write what I think of and as soon as I have enough to post, I post it. I don't even really edit lol.  
george: Thank you! I tried super hard to make it flow because I hate fanfics where it doesn't. your review means a lot to me!  
Mystery Name: Here is the chapter you were waiting for!**


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